Lower Back Pain Specialist

Soma Healthcare Center

Lawrence Rugg, D.C.

Chiropractic Clinic located in Elmhurst, IL & Chicago, IL

Nearly everyone will experience lower back pain in their lifetime. In fact, half of all American workers reported suffering from lower back pain in the last year. Lumbar pain can have a detrimental impact on daily life and function, but the experts at Soma Health Care Center offer holistic care for lower back pain in Chicago and Elmhurst, Illinois. They provide chiropractic care, acupuncture, and rehabilitation services for lower back pain at our family practice. Call our office to learn more about the services our healthcare providers offer for lower back pain.

Lower Back Pain

What causes lower back pain?

At any given time, an estimated 31 million Americans suffer from low back pain. It’s the leading cause of disability and one of the most common reasons people miss work.

The lower back is made up of a delicate structure of bones, joints, ligaments, and muscles that perform intricate actions whenever your body moves. The lower back bears the weight of the entire upper body. Any mechanism along that chain could potentially be pulled, strained, broken, pinched, or irritated.

The bending and twisting motions we perform daily leave our backs susceptible to pain. We also put extra pressure on our backs when we carry around extra weight or hunch over our computers with poor posture. Even sleeping in a bad position or lifting a box the wrong way can cause lower back pain. Other common causes of lower back pain include:

Repetitive movement injury
A physical deformity such as scoliosis
Trauma from an accident or abuse
Infection
Tumor
Autoimmune disease

Once in awhile, lower back pain is the symptom of an internal problem such as kidney stones, kidney infection, blood clots, or bone degeneration.

What are the different types of lower back pain?

Pain in the lower back can range from persistent achiness to sharp, sudden pain. The pain may be isolated to one area or radiate down into the legs and feet. Sometimes the pain is accompanied by muscle spasms and difficulty standing up straight.

Lower back pain is categorizable among three types of pain:

Chronic: severe pain that lasts over three months.
Acute: pain that comes on suddenly and improves after a few days or weeks.
Subacute: pain that lasts anywhere from six weeks to three months.

From there, pain can be described as either mechanical or radicular. Mechanical pain is localized in the muscles, ligaments, joints, or bones. Radicular pain is sharp, electric, numbing pain from spinal nerve irritation.

What can I do to help prevent lower back pain?

At Soma Health Care Center, you will work with a specialist to create your prevention plan. To help prevent lower back pain, they might have you:

Make postural improvements
Warm up before strenuous activity
Follow a regular exercise regimen
Make a plan for healthy eating and weight management
Avoid long stretches of sedentary activity
Lift with your legs instead of your back, without twisting
Wear flat shoes
Sleep on an appropriate mattress

How does Dr. Rugg treat lower back pain?

In many cases, chiropractic care is recommended as the first line of treatment for lower back pain, and it might be the only treatment you need. Dr. Rugg can perform full spine adjustments to help alleviate back pain. Most of the time, spinal manipulation decreases pain, reduces the need for medication, and encourages recovery.

After treatment, Dr. Rugg may give you exercises and stretches to perform at home as a preventive measure. He may also suggest certain lifestyle improvements where you might be prone to reinjury.

At Soma Health Care Center, you can also explore acupuncture, massage, and rehabilitation therapy to treat your lower back pain. Don’t suffer through another day of lower back pain. Make the call to our office to begin treatment right away.